Cheryl Eddy

British writer Jack Thorne has been hired to retool the script for Star Wars: Episode IX, working from a draft penned by the film’s director, Colin Trevorrow, and his writing partner Derek Connolly. Rian Johnson (The Last Jedi) wrote the initial treatment.

Jack Thorne accepts the 2017 Olivier Award for Best New Play for Harry Potter And The Cursed Child. Image: Jeff Spicer/Getty Images

Since we have no idea what is in the script for Episode IX, all we can do is list Thorne’s bona fides. He’s probably best-known for writing the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (from a story he co-wrote with J.K. Rowling and John Tiffany), but he’s also created and written for some of the best British TV dramas in recent years: The Fades (an excellent supernatural series), The Last Panthers, National Treasure and others. He has also written for the BBC’s forthcoming adaptation of His Dark Materials, as well as Channel 4’s upcoming Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams.